Unheard of
by LambIAm
Summary: Grimmjow is cast out of Hueco Mundo after trying to protect a friend. Where has he got left to turn? Can Grimmjow handle trying to live like a human while enduring a certain red headed distraction? Grimmjow/Ichigo.
1. To break

Title: Unheard of

Rating: M

Summary: Grimmjow is cast out of Hueco Mundo after trying to protect a friend. Where has he got left to turn? The sereitei of course. Can Grimmjow handle trying to live like a human while enduring a certain red headed distraction?

Warnings: Yaoi, smut...all that jazz.

Pairings: Mainly Grimmjow/Ichigo. More surprise pairings in later chapters, some crack. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own bleach. Tite Kubo does. Lucky Bastard

Chapter 1: To break

* * *

Grimmjow twisted his way through the halls, letting his feet follow the path they had learned to memorize after constant repetition. Unranked arrancar avoided him in every way possible be it diving down staircases or jumping onto the ceiling so they weren't noticed. But, of course, he noticed anyway. He noticed everything. In fact, if the teal haired espada hadn't been in such a good mood, he probably would have killed anything within cero-blasting distance.

But, luckily for the innocent bystanders, it was noon.

Grimmjow passed by Szayel in the hall. Grimmjow and Szayel had a sort of alliance going after Szayel had agreed to take one of the sexta espada's missions when he had gotten a bout of the flu. Aizen never cared if they got sick. Their "lord" hardly cared about them at all. Despite what the unranked arrancars saw, the espada's were in fact pretty friendly with each other.

But, consequently, that alliance shattered after Ilforte died. Szayel always tried so hard to make people believe he hated the older brother that he had surpassed, and it fooled everyone until the night, 3 days after the Grantz's death was announced, Grimmjow had passed by the Octava espada's room and heard him crying. It didn't help that Grimmjow had also made fun of him to save face.

The Octava espada passed by him without a word and Grimmjow shook off the slight irritance that rose up in his throat. He had more important things to do right now than beat up a depressed drag queen.

He padded through the remaining stretch of hall until he reached the door labeled "4". He checked around quickly for anyone around who could question why he was outside Ulquiorra's room, opened the door and slipped in quickly, shutting the door behind him.

Ulquiorra's room wasn't anything special; white walls, plain blue bedspread on a regular double bed that took up about one third of the room, plain desk and bookshelf. The one thing in there that attracted him and the figures sprawled across the bed to come here as opposed to anywhere else was the T.V.

The lights were off in the room but the light from the T.V gave him a clear view of the pair on the bed, his friends.

Nnoitra tore his gaze from the flickering screen long enough to look over at him and grin.

"'Bout time you got here! The emo here and I got tired of waiting so we started the movie without you."

"For the last time, I'm not an emo." The quatros espada muttered, delicately placing a piece of popcorn in his mouth and chewing it carefully, a stark contrast to Nnoitra's grabbing a handful and shoving it in his mouth all at once.

Grimmjow grinned. He looked forward to this every day.

The teal haired espada scrambled onto the bed beside Nnoitra, causing Ulquiorra to hold onto the bowl of popcorn so it didn't tip over.

"What'd I miss?" He said, hoping to frustrate the little espada. He hated people talking during a movie.

Nnoitra smirked. He wanted in on this.

"We're watching fight club. Basically the dude met this other dude and then they beat each other up for fun."

"Why?"

Ulquiorra whipped his head around and glared at them coldly.

"Maybe if you were quiet and listened, you would know."

Grimmjow and Nnoitra shared a triumphant glance and then let their gazes settle on the screen. They didn't know how Tosen had managed to get a television set up all the way out here in Hueco Mundo, or where he got all the movies he lent them, but they decided not to ask questions. Tosen lent them a couple movies a week in exchange for the trio to babysit Wonderweiss on Thursdays.

All three of the espada's lives were very hectic and they rarely saw each other outside the two hours they managed to organize together nearly everyday. There were often reasons they had to cancel their get-togethers. Sometimes they were sent on long missions. Other times they were injured and were busy getting healed.

The trio had to be careful about how they went about organizing this. No one knew about this except for Tosen who stumbled across them playing cards together once a couple months ago. If Aizen found out, they wouldn't be allowed to see each other anymore at all. Tosen carefully explained that their lord would see it as a pending uprising, and for how faux Aizen was, Grimmjow couldn't deny the topic had come up once or twice.

Ulquiorra sighed and switched off the T.V and flicked on his lamp, combing popcorn out of his hair with his fingers as another piece bounced off his forehead.

"Aha! You missed!" Nnoitra cackled as he returned popcorn fire, aiming for Grimmjow's head.

Grimmjow squinted one eye shut and scratched his neck where the kernel had hit.

"How can I possibly finish the DVD with you two firing snacks at my head?" Ulquiorra sighed.

"Sorry Ulqui." Grimmjow smirked as the quatros espada's face darkened at the unfavorable nickname. The teal haired espada shoved the remaining popcorn in his hand into his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing.

"Hey, you two'd better be more careful. You guy's haven't been as rude to each other lately. I think Aizen suspects something." Nnoitra said, taking on a serious tone. "I mean, I like what we've got going on here. I don't want it to be ruined 'cause you two aren't being careful." Ulquiorra crossed his arms.

"I hope you aren't implying what you think you are."

Nnoitra looked at him.

"What? What do you think I'm implying?"

"That if Aizen did find out, you'd do anything but what he commands."

Grimmjow sighed. This is where his two friends differed. Nnoitra wasn't sure of his loyalty to Aizen, and Ulquiorra was nothing but loyal.

The two looked at each other challengingly for a while before he cut in.

"Hey! Guys! Enough already! Geez, if we're careful, we'll never have to deal with that, okay? Now sit down before you make me mad!" he growled.

Ulquiorra studied him, as if deciding whether or not to pull rank on him, before looking away in submittance.

The quatros espada glanced at the clock on his bedside table. There was hardly any sense of time in Hueco Mundo, so Aizen decided it would be easier if they went by human time.

"One thirty..." He muttered to himself. He stood up. "Excuse me, I have a meeting with Aizen now and I'd best not be late."

A flare went off in Grimmjow's head.

"Now? He knows it's your break now!" Grimmjow had always noticed the way Aizen looked at Ulquiorra. As if screwing that Ichimaru bastard wasn't enough. A sense of dread ran up his spine. He knew something was wrong. He'd be damned if that bastard laid a finger on Ulquiorra. God or not.

Ulquiorra gazed at him coolly and walked out of the room, avoiding argument.

The sexta espada looked over a Nnoitra who was reciprocating with a questioning look.

"You okay Grim?"

"I...we..." He tried to think of what to do. On one hand, it was just a feeling. He could be wrong. But on the other hand, when had his feline intuition ever let him down? His face hardened and Nnoitra stiffened as he realized there was, in fact, something wrong.

"We have to follow him."

"Huh?!Are you suicidal?! He'll find us out for sure!"

"We can't just sit here! I think Aizen's gonna rape him!" Nnoitra's eyes widened. Grimmjow and him had exchanged words about the suspicious actions of their lord before towards Ulquiorra.

"How do you know?"

"I just feel it! C'mon!" Grimmjow dashed out of the room after Ulquiorra. The quatros espada was out of sight by now, but Grimmjow used the full extent of his stealth as he headed up to Aizen's quarters.

Just as Grimmjow reached his destination, he saw Ulquiorra dissapear into the bedroom, leaving it open a crack.

The espada slinked up to the door, doing his best to conceal his spiritual energy.

He saw Aizen talking, back turned to the black haired espada. Ulquiorra said something back. Aizen turned around and took a few steps towards him. He looked down at Ulquiorra. He said something. Ulquiorra looked up at him.

Grimmjow's eyes widened.

In one quick movement, Aizen grabbed Ulquiorra's chin tightly and thrust a hand down the from of the espada's pants, causing him to gasp.

Grimmjow snapped.

He flung the door open and pounced on Aizen, punching and screaming and clawing at him. But Grimmjow barely caused the former-captain to shed a drop of blood before he was pinned to the wall by his neck, Aizen standing several feet away.

"Well, well Grimmjow. I would have never thought you of all people would come to four's rescue." He smirked.

Grimmjow attempted to claw at whatever was holding him to the wall but his claws reached nothing. Instead his eyes bulged as he felt a weight pressing down on this lungs.

"You obviously know the punishment for attacking me, don't you Grimmjow? I should kill you right now in front of your..." he looked at Ulquiorra. "friend." Despite the pain, Grimmjow smirked back

"Fuck you..." he rasped. If he was going down, it wouldn't be begging, he knew that much.

Aizen cocked his head and gave him a small smile.

"Impudent to the end. I see you need a better lesson than I can give you here." He let Grimmjow fall to the floor gasping, and before he could do anything, his arms were seized from behind and a reiatsu-restraining collar was snapped to his neck harshly. The sexta espada hissed as he felt his energy begin to sap away.

As the unranked arrancar began to drag him away, Grimmjow watched as Aizen wrapped his arm around Ulquiorra's shoulder. But what was worse was Ulquiorra just turned his gaze away, not sparing him a second glance.

* * *

A/N: Chapter one is up! Okay, reviews are very important at this stage! You guys need to tell me whether or not this is worth continuing! PLEASE REVIEW!


	2. Teenage angst

Chapter 2: Teenage angst

Edited thanks to good reviewers who noticed the mistakes. Thak you!

* * *

Ichigo stared blankly into the bowl Yuzu had just set in front of him. The floating chunks of beef and vegetables stared back, daring him to eat them. Usually he would have been more than happy to down three, maybe four bowls of this, but right now his stomach was protesting.

He pushed the bowl away, looking regretfully at his little sister.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just not hungry..."

Yuzu gave him a smile, tinged with disappointment.

"Oh...okay nii-chan!" She chirped, letting her face light up. "Maybe you should go to bed early!"

"Yeah." The redhead mumbled, standing up.

"Oh! Is my dear son sick?! Let papa make it better!" Isshin said, rising from his seat and leaping over the table at Ichigo. The redhead grabbed the still airborne man by the collar and threw him off to the side, hitting the wall with a painful crash.

"Geez, what is wrong with you old man?! I'm fine!" At that the redhead stormed up the stairs, Karin's laughter following him. Ichigo scowled. His dad was the weirdest ever. He wished he could get away, at least for a little while.

The redhead walked into his room, shutting the door behind him, to be instantly attacked by Kon. His scowl just grew deeper as the lion started ranting about food and he performed the same technique on him as he had just done on Isshin. The lion hopped back up as Ichigo flopped face down on his bed.

"Oi, what's with the bad mood? You're grumpier than usual." Kon gave him a mocking, dreamy look, clasping his paws together. "Oh I know! You finally met a girl, didn't you! But she turned you down didn't she!"

Ichigo tossed a stray shoe at the stuffed animal, striking him right in the face.

"Shut up Kon. Nothing like that happened and you know it." He mumbled into the bed. Nothing like that ever happened to him.

Ichigo rolled his head over until his cheek was pressed against his bed and he was facing the wall. He sighed. The new school year had just started, his last year of high school, and he had never even kissed a girl.

Kon, picking up on Ichigo's teenage angst, trotted over to the bed, climbing up beside him. The lion patted Ichigo's back.

"Go away Kon, I'm tired."

The lion huffed.

"Fine! If that's what I get for trying to be nice for once!" He scurried back off the bed and dashed into the closet, sniffing dramatically.

Ichigo fingered his bedsheets. The bed felt colder than usual. The redhead had a sudden twinge of loneliness. He sighed and reached under his mattress, pulling out his substitute shinigami badge. He stared at it, wondering if he should just leave for a while, to get away from it all.

The soul society hadn't had him in any troops lately, seems Aizen had slowed the arrancar attacks to a trickle. They guessed the former captain was plotting his next move, so they were still on high alert, but everything had calmed down a bit.

_'Maybe I should go...just in case they need me.' _Ichigo reasoned with himself.

"Kon! Come here!" he called.

The stuffed animal sauntered out of the closet, glaring defiantly at him.

"What?" he scoffed, nose in the air.

Ichigo sat up, still staring at the badge. He looked up at Kon, the best company he had right now. That was sad. And it had to change. Ichigo hit himself in the chest with his badge, feeling his soul pull out of his body.

Ichigo, freshly adorned in his shihakuso, turned his gaze from his lifeless body lying on the bed to Kon, who was looking confused. The redhead picked Kon up by the scruff of his neck and looked him straight in the eye.

"I'm gonna be gone for a couple days. Take care of everything here and do it right!." He smacked the lion on the back of the head, catching the soul candy in his hand and putting it in his body's mouth.

Ichigo was gone out the window before the mod soul could utter a protest, headed for Urahara's shop.

* * *

Grimmjow glared disdainfully through one eye at his shattered blade, laying in front of him on the cold stone floor.

His whole body ached and bled. He could hardly remember what they had done to him, only that it involved several swords, fists, whips and other weapons of torture, and somehow his beloved pantera broken and given back to him, in a sign of mocking.

He heard the door open but he didn't look up, he was too ashamed. He knew it was someone here to deal him some more punishment. They wouldn't stop until he was dead, and it was only a matter of time before they pulled in the Espada.

"Hey bud..." Came a gentle voice, gentler than he deserved. He was so pathetic right now, so helpless.

It had been days since Grimmjow had heard that voice, but he remembered it clearly. Out of pure impulse he glanced up at Nnoitra, a look of despair coating his features.

"Please tell me they sent you to kill me..." The teal haired arrancar hissed. "You'll do it quick."

A look of horror crossed Nnoitra's face.

"Holy shit Grimm, what'd they do to you?" He said recoiling a bit. The sexta espada just shook his head, wincing at the pain of that simple movement. His left hand reached up and clasped his other shoulder. He had lost all feeling in that arm.

"Are you?" The teal haired arrancar insisted. He desperately wanted this to be over. He felt blood dripping down his face. Probably from one of the gashes in his head. Nnoitra sighed and shook his head.

"You look like a corpse already, I should just put you out of your misery."

A pleading look filled Grimmjow's eyes. This is what he wanted. This is what he had been waiting for all these days. Finally an escape.

The teal haired arrancar waited for his friend to unsheathe his sword, but he never did. Instead he heaved Grimmjow to his feet.

"Can you walk?" Grimmjow nodded. The only reason they hadn't shattered his legs was because Gin had needed him to be able to stand when he deployed his own methods of torture.

Nnoitra let go of him, checking to see if he could support himself and when he could, roughly grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, picking up the remnants of Grimmjow's sword. He put on a sneer and dragged the sexta espada out of the room, passing by the guards with ease.

Grimmjow didn't say anything until Nnoitra had dragged him outside, in the hot sun of the desert. Nnoitra forced Grimmjow to his knees in front of him and pulled out a spare sheath, putting the shards that used to be pantera into it. He tossed it to him and turned away.

"Go. Get lost. Run away."

Grimmjow stared at Nnoitra in shock.

"I can't kill you Grimm. Try to escape. Try to save yourself." Nnoitra looked back at his best friend with a sad smile. "Sorry I can't put you out of your misery, but don't break yet. You'll get through this. I know you will."

Anger surged through Grimmjow's body and for the first time in a week, he had some fight in him.

"Fuck you. I don't need your pity." He said, struggling to his feet. Nnoitra looked back at him once more. Grimmjow plastered his trademark smile on and straightened up as best he could, still partially bent over, hand clutching his shoulder, but confidently.

What had he been thinking? How could he give up on life like that? He needed to prove to this asshole that he wasn't a weakling. Though he had proved that many times.

He picked up the sheath and gave the raven haired Espada a small wave.

"I still gotta beat you remember? You and that Kurosaki shitbag. I'll be back."

He turned and started walking, or rather limping, away from the castle, wondering how long his confidence would last.

"You'd better live up to that bastard!" Nnoitra called after him, grinning. He lingered for a few more seconds, savoring what he expected to be the last he ever saw of the teal haired espada, before turning around and heading back inside.

* * *

A/N: Le second chappy. Introducing....(drumroll)...emo ichi! Tada! Please review!


	3. To be found

Chapter 3: To be found

* * *

Grimmjow dragged himself a few more steps through the seemingly endless desert. Who was he kidding. It _was_ endless.

He didn't know how long it had been since Nnoitra had released him. Hours? Days? He didn't know. All he knew is that the pain in his shoulder had been growing worse and worse. He hadn't cared to check, but it felt like there was a giant gash there.

He stopped. He couldn't walk a step farther. His head was spinning. He tilted his blood crusted head down to the ground to try to steady himself, watching his blood get dissolved into the sand.

Grimmjow watched, drop by drop as he was absorbed by the sand. The confidence he had when he was saying goodbye to Nnoitra was gone and the despair returned. He just wanted the pain to end.

He sunk to his knees, growling in pain. He just wished he could have had one more chance to fight that red-headed bastard. Just one more chance to finally _kill him._

He grabbed the hilt at his side and turned it upside down, pouring the remnants of his precious blade to the ground in front of him.

He stared at in remorse, reflecting on all thje things he wished he had done before this point, and with one last, painfilled scream to the world, everything went black.

* * *

Ichigo shaded his eyes with a hand, scouring over Hueco mundo. He had gone to the Soul society for some company and ended up getting sent on some search here. For what? Pretty much anything useful. A stray arrancar they could squeeze information out of maybe.

With him were Renji, Hanataro, and Jushiro. Hanataro was there in case they got attacked, and he guessed the only reason they sent Jushiro was so they could be sure they didn't flake off.

"Find anything yet?" Ichigo called to Renji, who was searching far off to his left.

"Yeah! I'm just hiding it from you guys!" He called back , a hint of humor in his voice. Ichigo scowled but coldn't help a small grin from passing his face.

"Nothing over here yet!" Came Jushiro's voice from his left. Ichigo opened his mouth to respond but just then there was a loud scream from in front of him.

He looked up and saw the faint outline of Hanataro, back to him. He sprinted over to him, the others arriving at about the same time.

"What?!" Renji shouted, looking worriedly at the wide-eyed shinigami. Hanataro raised a hand and pointed about one hundred feet in front of them where there was a body...lying in a pool of blood.

"What do you think it is?" Jushiro asked, squinting to see clearer.

"Whatever it is, do you think it's dangerous?" Renji asked suspiciously, hands ready to pull out his sword in case it jumped up.

"Unless it's a trap, I don't think it could even be _alive_ with all that blood..." Jushiro muttered. Ichigo straightened up.

"I'll go check it out." A defiant look came over Renji's face.

"No way. We'll all come. Maybe it's an espada."

Ichigo scowled once again at the lack of confidence, but started cautiously heading for the figure, the other three following behind.

Ichigo stopped as soon as they were close enough to see that it was in fact a body. With a human form.

"Well, there's only two explanations now..." Jushiro began, studying it from afar.

"It's either one of us, or one of them." Ichigo finished. That's when his eye caught a tuft of teal blue hair. His eyes narrowed.

"Grimmjow..." He hissed, hands flying to his sword, Renji and Jushiro following suit. They stood poised like that for about a minute before Hanataro cut into the silence.

"Um...I don't think he's moving..." The little shinigami stuttered, clinging to Renji's sleeve for safety.

"You're right." Renji replied, shaking him off in annoyance. The redhead broke out in a grin. "Hey! If we bring back an injured espada, we'd be able to squeeze out major information from him!"

"Not if he's dead." Jushiro shook his head. A sudden burst of laughter caused them to all to turn and look at Ichigo, who was of course the source.

"That guy? Dead? No way." He scoffed.

"Good point." Jushiro readied his blade again. "We should be careful." Without any prompting, Ichigo started walking towards the blue haired espada, Zangetsu poised for attack.

To their surprise, they managed to work up until they were standing right above the espada, who was face-down in the sand. Hanataro covered his mouth in shock.

"Look at those wounds! It would take days of constant repetition to create those." He cried, a hint of pity in his voice. Ichigo scoffed.

"This is exactly what he deserved. A long, slow, _painful_ death." he hissed out the words venemously. "I just wish I could have done it."

Renji kicked Grimmjow's arm, spurring no movement.

"Well, he's obviously dead..." Jushiro sighed. "That would have been a great shot of luck though, wouldn't it?"

Hanataro stooped and carefully put a hand on the espada's neck. A few seconds passed before he gasped and jerked his hand back, hopping up. They all stared at him in confusion.

"H-he's alive...barely...but alive." He stuttered, clutching his hands to his chest. A big grin spread across Renji's face.

"Well then, get to work!" He shouted, rolling Grimmjow over with a foot, revealing the espada's bloody face and wounded front, sand pouring out of the hole in his stomach. Ichigo stared down at him in disgust.

"I told you he wouldn't die, even after this."

Hanataro hastily pulled off his bag and dropped to his knees, getting to work stopping the blood flow from the bigger wounds. Jushiro and Renji worked on trying to get as much sand out of the wounds as possible as Ichigo observed.

Renji accidentaly dug his fingers in a bit too far into one of the larger gashes and the teal haired espada emitted a low grunt, his eyelids flickering lightly.

"Alright! We got life!" Renji cheered, going to work on a different gash.

Ichigo watched as the other three worked, never taking his eyes away from his enemy's face. Grimmjow let another pained gasp slip through his consiousness and Ichigo felt a twinge of pity.

"Be more careful Renji," Ichigo said, dropping to his knees beside the others. "You might kill him." Then he went to work helping them clean his wounds.

Renji glanced over at Ichigo, who was gently brushing the sand away as opposed to digging it out like he had expected the substitute shinigami to do.

Suddenly, all the espada's muscled tightened and his eyes snapped open, his breathing becoming even more laboured as blood poured out of a wound in his shoulder. Renji, Ichigo and Jushiro jumped away.

"What's going on?!" Renji yelled.

"His body is trying to protect itself!" Hanataro cried "We need to get him to relax somehow!"

Ichigo felt another shot of pain in his heart as he did a quick brainstorm.

"Wait! He's part cat, right?" Ichigo moved back over and started stroking the espada's neck, forcing another disgusted look to his face. They all watched in silence as Grimmjow's body slackened and a small rumble started from his throat.

Ichigo grimaced but Hanataro smiled, and went back to healing the wounds as Jushiro and Renji stared in confusion.


	4. Candy

Chapter 4: Candy

* * *

Grimmjow cracked his eyes open and was greeted by a white light. He furrowed his eyebrows. He must be dead...but where was he? Was this what the humans personified as "heaven"?

_'Couldn't be. No way I would ever make it to heaven...' _He thought. He tried to move, to see if the pain was gone and realized he couldn't, something was strapping him down. He opened his mouth to try and say something but before he could, the bright light dissapeared to be replaced by a pink head.

"Ah! Uno-chan! He's awake!" The little pink girl shrieked. Grimmjow squeezed his eyes shut.

"Oi! You're fucking loud! Shut up before I rip your fucking mouth off!" He screamed back, struggling against what he saw now to be reiatsu restraints.

Another feminine face came into his line of view. This one kinder. Grimmjow recognized her as one of the captains of that soul society place but that meant...

Grimmjow's eyes snapped open wide and he growled at her.

"Where the fuck am I?" he spat, struggling to break his bonds. "I swear, I'll kill every last one of you!"

All the Captain did was smile.

"My, my, what a rude mouth you have. That's no way to speak to someone who saved your life."

Grimmjow stopped struggling and stared at her quizzically.

"Saved my..." They must have found him in the desert. And brought him back here for...

He growled at her.

"Stop being so fucking nice! I'm not giving you any information!"

"My, my, is that you favourite word?" She tsked. He opened his mouth for another rude retort but instead a yelp came out as an uncomfortable shiver ran up his spine. He looked down his body as best he could and saw the little pink girl was pawing at his hollow hole.

"Hey! Get outta there!" He squirmed. Pain shot from his shoulder and he arched his back, eyes shooting open.

The woman gently pushed him back down.

"Be careful please. It took a while to re-attach you nerves." He glanced at her, scowling. She smiled.

"I assume you got those wounds from your comrades, hm? You did something wrong?" This time he literally spat in her face.

"That's none of you business! What do you know?!" Memories flooded back of Ulquiorra's uncaring glance. Nnoitra's glance that showed too much care. Care he didn't deserve.

She dabbed at her face with a handkerchief, cleaning off his spit.

"Yes, well, I just thought you may want to help us bring Aizen down. Since he did abandon you." He winced. There was more to this lady than what was on the surface. He smirked.

"That's cold lady. You're right, I do want him to squirm." She cocked her head a bit, smile never wavering.

"Then would you be willing to help us? You give us information, we set you free? Battle plans, methods of attack, anything?" He scoffed and turned his head away.

"Sorry lady, no can do. Aizen doesn't tell us shit. He just tells us what we have to do, right before we leave to do it." A disappointed look crossed her face. She believed him. Her smile returned.

"Alright then, we will decide what to do with you then." She looked at the pink headed girl who was trying to fit her head into Grimmjow's hollow hole. He raised an eyebrow. This kid was brave. No one at Hueco Mundo besides espada and their lords would get within fifty feet of him, much less do...whatever she was doing.

"Yachiru, would you please prepare our guest for the meeting and escort him?" Yachiru pulled her head back out and gave her a big smile.

"Okee!" she jumped off the table he was strapped to and ran over to a cardboard box in the corner.

The woman pulled a bag out of her captain's robe and set it down beside him, and walked out.

Grimmjow eyed the little girl warily as she popped back out of the box, holding something behind her back. She scurried over to him and hopped back up, sitting on his stomach.

"Okay pretty kitty, time for your walk!" She squealed, tying a pink collar and leash around his neck.

"Ugh!" He yelled. "What the hell!?" She put a finger to his lips and glared at him darkly.

"The pretty kitty-kun will be nice, right? Or else the pretty kitty will get hurt." He recoiled a bit. She was crazy. This little kid was absolutely nuts. She smiled brightly again.

"So you'll be good right?"

Grimmjow felt something cold on his wrist. He looked down. A reiatsu restricting bracelet. They must have taken the collar off. He glared at her.

"What's to stop me from strangling you?" He smirked, hoping to scare her. It didn't work. She furrowed her eyebrows and put a finger to her cheek.

"Well, we did save your life, and if Ken-chan and Byakushi and Mayurin and Uki-kun thought you were being mean, they might kill you..." She said thoughtfully. Her face brightened again. "Oh! I know!" She poked his nose. "I like you kitty-kun! I want us to be friends!" she picked up the bag the woman had left beside him and opened it, pulling out a handful of colourful beads.

"What the hell is that?" He said, more than a little irked by the strangeness of this situation. She shoved the beads in his mouth. He was about to spit them back out when he noticed their sweet flavour. He chewed the beads and then swallowed them, then stared wide-eyed at the bag.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Candy!" She squealed. "Now, if you do what I say, you get more okay?"

Grimmjow considered that. She obviously wasn't intent on killing him. Maybe he could learn to work with Shinigami. He grinned. Wouldn't that put a knot in Aizen's plans. Besides, if things went south he could just kill them all.

"Alright." he said, grinning.

"Yay!" She shrieked, clapping. "I'm Yachiru!"

"I'm Grimmjow." He replied

She released him and Grimmjow carefully sat up, Yachiru sliding into his lap. He studied his body. The teal haired espada was surprised to see that there were very few scars. He was wearing shinigami pants and nothing else. He raised an eyebrow. Whoever healed him had done a good job.

Yachiru hopped out of his lap and onto the floor. She couldn't be taller than three feet.

"Can you walk Grimmy?" She asked. His eye twitched.

"Don't call me that!" He growled. He wouldn't be degraded by this kid. She giggled and held up the bag.

"C'mon kitty, walk!"

Grimmjow had to summon every ounce of patience he had not to crush her as he stood up. The anger ebbed away as he noticed nothing hurt except his shoulder. He held out his right arm, ignoring the pain, and flexed his fingers. They worked. A big grin spread across his face. He made a lap of the room, Yachiru following, clutching the leash.

"Good job!" She squealed. She reached into the bag and tossed some candy in the air. Instinctively, Grimmjow ducked and caught them in his mouth. He grinned as he chewed. Just like Nnoitra and him used to do with the popcorn.

Suddenly a bell rang out. Yachiru's head shot up and she tugged on the leash.

"Time for the meeting!"

He ripped the leash out of her hand.

"No way am I going wearing this." He said, ripping it off. She looked up at him with big, teary eyes. He took a step back.

"Ah! What the hell?! Don't cry!" She sniffled and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm not..." She hiccuped. "Ken-chan said I have to stay in constant contact with you..."

Grimmjow looked down at her. Ken-chan had to be that big guy, Kenpachi. He sighed. No way he wanted to make that guy mad.

"Okay, okay." He said, lifting her up under the armpits and putting her on his shoulders. "Better?"

She clutched his hair into her fists and smiled.

"Yay! Okay! Let's go!"

He scowled and walked out of the room. This was not going to go well.


	5. To Decide

Chapter 5: To Decide

* * *

"I don't think he's lying" Unohana stated, hands folded on the table.

"Lying or not I say we kill him!" Kenpachi grinned, "He is an Espada after all. He could turn on us any moment!"

"I would like to perform some experiments." Mayuri cut in.

"Don't you think that's a little unfair?" Ukitake chimed in. "We might be able to get him to help us. I mean he is very strong."

"Unfair?!" Kenpachi roared. "He's the _enemy_!"

"He doesn't have to be." Byakuya stated wisely, sipping from a cup of tea.

Ichigo leaned back in his chair, watching the captains bicker around the round table. He didn't really want Grimmjow to be executed. Which was a little strange. Before, he would have taken any chance he could get to kill that guy. He wondered what had changed. Kenpachi turned toward him.

"We should kill him right Ichigo?!"

Ichigo scratched his temple, trying to think of the best way to answer this and save face.

"I agree with Jushiro on this one actually. He could be useful." They all stared at him like he had two heads except Ukitake who clapped him hands together happily.

"See? Thank you Ichigo, for being mature." Ichigo scoffed in annoyance and turned his head away.

"But what about my experiments?" Mayuri complained.

"You can probably find something else to- Renji stop it." Byakuya said, pulling the the redhead's hand off his thigh.

Ichigo felt another twinge of jealousy that had become so familiar to him. Renji grinned and sat back in his seat. He glanced at Ichigo and winked. Those two had been together for about two months and if Byakuya didn't glare at Renji when he touched him, it usually meant he was getting some tonight.

"Enough." Yamamoto said, shutting them all up. "He should be here soon."

As if on cue, the doors slammed open, revealing a red-faced Grimmjow.

"Yay! We made it!" Yachiru shrieked, tugging at his hair.

The teal haired espada grabbed her from off his shoulders and threw her.

"Do you have any idea how horrible your directions are?! I should gut you right now!"

Yachiru landed on her feet in the middle of the table before jumping at Kenpachi and clinging to the front of his robe.

"Ken-chan!" She squealed.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Grimmjow roared.

Unohana smiled and gestured to the seat beside Ichigo.

"Please, sit. How are you feeling?" She asked.

He glanced over to the seat and his gaze narrowed as his eyes fell on Ichigo.

"You!" He hissed. Ichigo just smirked.

"What, me?" He asked, pointing to himself. "You really shouldn't be speaking to me that way, seeing as I saved your life."

"Fuck you!" Grimmjow prepared to lunge but before he could, Ukitake shun-poed behind him, slamming him face first onto the table, pinning the espada's arms behind his back.

"Come on guys." He smiled. "Can't we be civil? Grimmjow, if you want to have any chance of creating trust with us, you have to drown that urge to kill Ichigo-san over here."

Ichigo stared at the espada who was glaring at him from across the table. He arched an eyebrow tauntingly. He expected the espada to make another lunge for him but instead he just rested his head back down on the table.

"Fine." He mumbled faintly. That surprised Ichigo. Who knew this guy had a reasonable bone in his body?

"Good." Ukitake let go of him and Grimmjow emitted a small pained sound, straightening up and holding his shoulder. Ichigo winced. Now he remembered why he couldn't kill him. He just looked so damn pathetic. Like a beaten kitten.

Ichigo fought not to smirk at the thought as he stood and walked over to Grimmjow. If the espada was willing to cooperate, then he should be too.

He gruffly extended a hand to the teal haired espada, who studied it carefully before taking it firmly with his good arm and shaking it, squeezing harder than necessary.

Ichigo let go and looked Grimmjow in the eye, ignoring the throbbing in his hand. What surprised Ichigo was that he saw no signs of blood lust or deceit. Just loss.

Grimmjow brushed past him and crossed the room, sitting in his seat. Ichigo followed, keeping one eye on the espada. Grimmjow still emanated power, but the edge had dulled a bit compared to when they were fighting.

"So how do we do this thing?" Grimmjow said, resting his head in his hand, elbow on the table. Yamamoto cleared his throat.

"It seems the majority of us find it would be a benefit to us to keep you alive." Grimmjow smirked.

"Yeah? Good. Not too keen on dying yet." Ichigo saw his eyes flash a bit with memory.

"What the hell will we use him for?" Kenpachi grunted, glaring at the espada. Grimmjow just rolled his eyes and looked away.

"I did have an idea." Yamamoto stated, looking all of them in the eye at once to ensure they were paying attention. "We cannot trust him to lead battles, or fight in them for that matter." Grimmjow snorted, interrupting him. All of them looked at the teal haired espada in disbelief. Ichigo fought the urge to smirk once again. Not even he was bold enough to interrupt Yamamoto.

"There's no way in hell I'd turn against you now for your information." he stated boldly. "They betrayed me back at Hueco Mundo. I'm not too keen on blowing this too." Yamamoto cleared his throat, seemingly about to let Grimmjow get away with this one.

"Yes, well, until that is proved to be true, I have decided to put you on scouting duty in the real world."

"Surely you're not going to leave him alone?" Byakuya scoffed.

"Of course not." Yamamoto looked at both Ichigo and Grimmjow, making Ichigo sit up straight in his seat.

"I will be putting him under watch of Kurosaki-san. You two shall be working together from now on."

Grimmjow's eyes widened and Ichigo's jaw dropped. Yamamoto gazed at them coolly.

"Is there a problem with that?"

His tone suggested that there was no room for argument, so Grimmjow just rested his forehead down on the table, looking like he was fighting the urge to scream. Ichigo sat there dumbstruck. The man that was his worst enemy until about three minutes ago...was now his partner.

* * *

A/N: Tada! Plot twist! Hope it made sense, please review!


	6. Welcome home

Chapter 6: Welcome home

* * *

Grimmjow stood outside Ichigo's house, analyzing it skeptically. You could probably fit a thousand of those into Hueco Mundo. He snorted and the redhead looked over at him, standing in the doorway he had just unlocked.

"What?" Grimmjow smirked and strode past him into the house, giving it a condescending gaze.

"Damn, this place is a shithole." His smirk instantly dissapeared as a shock shot up his arm. Grimmjow clutched his arm, turning around to face Ichigo, who was now wearing the smirk and holding a ring in his hand.

"What the fuck was tha-" Ichigo dashed over and covered his mouth.

"Quiet you idiot! There are kids in this house!" Grimmjow slapped Ichigo's hand away from his mouth and pinned him against the wall by his neck.

"Don't touch me!" He snarled. Ichigo glared back and held up the ring again, pressing down in the jewel in the center. Another shock, stronger this time, made Grimmjow jerk his hand away, dropping Ichigo.

The redhead shot up, grabbed Grimmjow by his bad arm and dragged him up the stairs, the espada yelping. He pulled him into his room and shut the door quickly behind them. Grimmjow fell onto Ichigo's bed, clutching his shoulder, and glared maliciously at the redhead.

"What the hell was that?!" Ichigo rolled his eyes, sliding the ring onto his middle finger and flipping him off.

"Unohana gave it to me. It's to keep you in line." Grimmjow growled.

"So how's this gonna work?" He asked, keeping his gaze firmly on Ichigo's face, letting him know he wasn't in charge. Ichigo nodded. It was obvious he had already thought about this.

"Well, you'll have to stay here." Ichigo grimaced just to bug Grimmjow, then continued. "And because a lot of the time, I get calls about arrancars when I'm in school, and also because I'm not supposed to let you out of my sight, you'll have to start school." He expected Grimmjow to hate that prospect, but instead his face lit up in surprise.

"I get to go to school?" Ichigo arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I guess. Why?" Grimmjow instantly wiped the expression off his face and glared at the floor.

"Nothing." That intrigued Ichigo. Why would a blood thirsty animal like him be excited to go to school? Ichigo held up the ring to suggest he wanted an answer. Grimmjow recoiled a bit, eyes narrowing.

"Alright! Alright! Nnoitra once got to go to a school when he was looking for something in the human world and told me how cool it was! Don't shock me okay?!"

Ichigo stared at him in confusion, lowering his hand. Grimmjow saw his questioning look and scoffed.

"Yeah yeah. I know. Weird huh? Well I had friends there." Once again, Ichigo was intrigued. He didn't think arrancars even understood the concept of friendship, but here was the one he assumed the most inhuman of all, telling him about friends. Were they really all that inhuman?

"Nnoitra? That tall guy?" Ichigo held his hand above his head to accent his point.

"Hey! Are you making fun of him?!" Grimmjow snarled. Ichigo held up the ring again.

"Okay, you have to be quieter or my family will know you're here." The teal haired espada snorted.

"Hey, they're about to notice sometime." Ichigo pondered that. He hadn't really considered what to tell his family. Maybe he could tell him he's a new friend? That might work besides the fact that him and Grimmjow didn't get along. At all. Which was reasonable of course, them trying to kill each other in the past and all. A look of realization crossed Ichigo's face and Grimmjow raised an eyebrow.

"What? I break your head or something?" Ichigo shot him a glare and strode over to his closet, opening it. Another Ichigo shot out of the closet, tackling Ichigo #1 to the floor, making Grimmjow sit up in surprise.

"Ichigo!" Ichigo #2 said sternly "Where have you been?! I've been waiting for days and-" It's gaze trailed up to Grimmjow, sitting up in the bed. It's eyes widened and it screamed. Ichigo quickly pushed it off and covered it's mouth.

"Shut up Kon! He's not here to kill us! We captured him!"

"Hey!" Grimmjow protested. "No one 'captures' Grimmjow Jeagerjaques!" Ichigo gazed at him, eyes perked in doubt and amusement. Grimmjow growled and a small, almost innoticable, embarrassed blush crept onto his cheeks. "I _decided_ to join you guys!" he spat, but Ichigo was far more interested in the strange side of Grimmjow he was letting the redhead see.

Ichigo looked back at Kon and raised his hand. He smacked the look-alike over the head and a pill popped out of it's mouth.

"Oh! Soul candy!" Grimmjow's face brightened as if it were some great discovery.

"No duh." Ichigo easily slipped back into his body, leaving the pill on the floor. Grimmjow watched as Ichigo proceeded to reach back into the closet and pull out a stuffed lion. The redhead popped the pill into it's mouth and a second later, it started squirming in his grip, laughing maniacally.

"And I thought you were strong!" He hollered. "The great Grimmjow Jeagerjaques! I hope you're house trained little kitty cat!"

Ichigo saw Grimmjow's arm no more than twitch and suddenly he was clutching Kon's head in one hand, claws digging into his plush skull and dangling him out of the open window.

"Wanna say that again you stupid toy?!" He growled.

Ichigo quickly whipped out his ring and pressed the jewel, sending a shock to Grimmjow. The teal haired Espada tore his arm back, dropping the lion out the window.

The redhead scampered up, grabbing Grimmjow's shoulder and shoving him out of the way and peered down.

"Ichi-nii, why did Bostav fall out of your window?" Yuzu called up, standing under his window on the ground. Luckily, she had been there to catch Kon. Ichigo heaved a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Jeagerjaques! You're a guest in _my_ house which means you can't go throwing-" Ichigo stopped mid sentence as he turned around to face Grimmjow. He was sitting against the wall, head bowed and clenching his teeth painfully, cradling his left arm in his lap. His eyes were open and he was glaring maliciously at Ichigo.

"Whoa, hey, are you-"

"I'm fine!" Grimmjow barked, cutting him off, he staggered to his feet, letting go of his arm and trying to make it look like nothing was wrong, but his efforts were betrayed by his highly visible wince as the arm fell limply by his side. Before they left, Grimmjow had been provided with a full shinigami outfit, so Ichigo couldn't get a good look at his arm.

"Hey, if you're injured, I can always take you to my friend Orihime, you know her." He said, using the gentlest voice he could muster.

"I told you I was fine didn't I?! I should gut you right here!" he roared, reaching for his waist. Ichigo recoiled, expecting him to pull out a concealed sword. They hadn't allowed him any weapons and Jushiro had found the shards of what used to be Grimmjow's zanpakuto laying near him, but Ichigo didn't know if he had grabbed something without them noticing.

Grimmjow felt around his waist, searching for the hilt of his sword.

"_C'mon Pantera! This is it! When we finally get to kill that Kurosaki bastard!"_ His hollow instincts boiled up inside of him, the one all hollows had, the instinct to kill. Grimmjow loved the rush it gave him and he felt around more, lusting for the feel of blood on his hands. But all he grabbed at was air. A small moment of confusion fell on him before he realized; he wasn't going to find his beloved sword there anymore. They, his kin, had destroyed it, but here he was, reverting back to the side that had betrayed him and stolen his most precious possession away from him.

Ichigo stopped reaching for the chair he was going to defend himself with, totally forgetting the ring, and watched as Grimmjow's face darkened from blood lust to despair. The twinge in his heart Ichigo felt before turned into a yank and he rushed over to catch Grimmjow as he fell onto the redhead, face buried in his shoulder. Ichigo's brain was stewing.

"_This is my worst enemy, why am I holding him like this?! Sure, I feel bad for him but I didn't know he was messed up enough to go from trying to kill me to crying on my shoulder!"_

That intrigued Ichigo and he hoisted Grimmjow up just far enough to look at his face. He was asleep.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and roughly lowered him onto the bed, wary of his injured shoulder. Of course he had just saddened himself to exhaustion, if that was even possible. Of course he wasn't _crying. _He laughed out loud.

"Grimmjow Jeagerjaques _crying?!_" he laughed. "What was I thinking?!" He gazed down at the Espada coldly. He wondered had they hadn't broken his sword, if Grimmjow actually would have attacked him before. He snorted. Of course he would. He was a hollow. A heartless hollow.

"Y'know, you really had me going there with all that friendship stuff." Ichigo near whispered. He was probably just trying to get Ichigo to see him as more human, and trust him more so he would let his guard down.

"Well, that's not going to happen again." he growled. "You probably don't even feel bad about them abandoning you. You're probably enjoying this you sick freak."

While Ichigo was mumbling, his hand subconsciously brushed a few stray locks of hair out of Grimmjow's face, revealing the loneliest expression he had ever seen. He stared at it, his heart aching, but he forced himself to turn away.

"_It's all part of his act."_ He told himself. He stalked out of the room and down the stairs, past the living room where Yuzu was dressing up Kon and into the kitchen. He opened up the cupboard until he found what he was looking for: his father's gin stash. Considering his father, the stash was several bottles and actually rather obvious so Ichigo had stumbled upon it before. It had never occurred to him to actually use any of it before until now, but there was a painful knot in his chest that he wanted to go away and he wondered if this would work. He had never felt anything like this before.

Ichigo shut the cupboard.

"I must be getting sick or something..." he mumbled. He strode into the living room, hardly sparing Kon a glance, and grabbing two spare pillows and a blanket from under the couch.

"Ichi-nii, is that friend of yours you came in with staying the night?" Yuzu smiled. Ichigo looked over, tucking one of the pillows under his arm.

"Yeah. Actually he's gonna be staying for a while. Is that okay?" Yuzu nodded.

"Oh yes! I was just wishing I had another person to try my new recipes on!" Ichigo smiled faintly. He loved his sister. Positive and reassuring to the end.

He went back up the stairs into his room, finding Grimmjow in exactly the same position he left him in. Ichigo sighed and threw one pillow and the blanket to the ground. He stood beside the bed, once again peering down at the teal haired Espada, anger festering in his chest. What if he tried to hurt his family?

Grimmjow's lips parted slightly and a low groan escaped from his lips and Ichigo sighed as the anger ebbed away. He had seen it himself, there was nothing Grimmjow could do. And he looked so..._helpless _right now.

Ichigo gently lifted Grimmjow's shoulders up off the bed, doing his best to ignore the small pained sound he made, and slipped the second pillow under his injured arm and shoulder.

The redhead then made himself comfortable on the floor and layed down, back to the Espada, wondering just how long he could take this.

* * *

A/N: Wow this is late! Pardon my inconsistencies with my writing but they just won't seem to stop. Here's 6! Hope you enjoy please please PLEASE REVIEW!


	7. Gigai

Chapter 7: Gigai

* * *

Ichigo opened his eyes, squinting in the early morning light seeping through his closed curtains. He fingered the bedspread underneath him, nice and cool, just the way he liked it. It was strange for him to sleep on his back, it usually proved uncomfortable for him. The redhead tried to sit up, but was pushed back down by a rough hand.

He snapped his head to look down his body, only just noticing the strange weight on his chest, to see a smirking face, baring fangs. Grimmjow took his head out of his hand, allowing the elbow supporting itself on Ichigo's chest to slip off.

"Oi, 'bout time you woke up Kurosaki."

"Grimmjow?! What the hell are you do-" rough lips crushed against his own, cutting him off, even rougher hands pinning his wrists down. Ichigo's eyes widened and he tore his face to the side, breaking the kiss.

"What do you think you're doing Jeagerjaques?!" he yelled, trying to jerk his hands free. Grimmjow dug his claws into Ichigo's wrist and he had to bite down on his lip to keep from crying out in pain.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He felt the warm breath ghosting against his ear right before wet lips began caressing his neck. Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut as the caresses worked down lower to his collar bone.

"Grimmjow, stop..." he breathed. This couldn't be happening.

"Why the fuck would I stop?" He felt Grimmjow's hand remove itself from his wrist long enough to Ichigo's shirt buttons and the redhead took the opportunity to fight back. He opened his eyes and raised his hand, but instead of punching him in the face, he ended up clutching onto teal hair for dear life as a wet warmth enveloped his nipple.

"Fuck shinigami, you're pulling my hair out..." Grimmjow mumbled. A small moan escaped from Ichigo's mouth as the Espada licked and sucked, all fight leaving him with it. He was so ashamed of himslef, but damn it felt _so good_. If this was his sales pitch then he wanted everything Grimmjow had to offer, but the small amount of his brain that was left working forced him to try to fight back, just a little more. He jerked his wrist again, and let a halfhearted protest slip through his lips.

"Grimmjow, no..." He felt claws drag lightly down his sixpack, eliciting another moan and a shudder from the redhead. The hand stopped momentarily at his waistband before delving in...

* * *

Ichigo snapped awake, panting, with cold sweat dripping down his face. He glanced quickly from side to side, looking for the teal haired man, and relaxed when he saw he was no where in sight. He was still sitting on the floor where he had fallen asleep last night. His clothes showed no sign of being tampered with, his buttons all done up where they should be. The only difference was the bulge in his jeans.

He flushed a deep red, remembering the dream. Where the hell had_ that_ come from? A man? And Grimmjow no less! He was just thinking about how much he distrusted him and then _that_?! He shook his head and sighed.

"Calm down, this was probably caused by sexual frustration or some shit. And just because it was him doesn't mean anything. I was feeling sick yesterday, maybe I'm coming down with something." Satisfied with his explanation, he stood up and made his way to the bathroom. Ichigo quickly shed his clothes and hopped into the shower, turning it on cold. No way he could go downstairs for breakfast like...that.

Ichigo quickly washed himself up, taking just long enough to let his lower half calm down. He threw on a white t-shirt and some light blue jeans before heading downstairs, allowing his mind to wander away from his dream.

That's when he saw Grimmjow hiding behind a plastic plant.

"Oi! What the hell are you doing down there you asshole?!" Grimmjow looked up and growled.

"Shut up, your house is whacked! This little kid with red hair keeps on running back and forth like I'm not here except for once after she ran past for the fourteenth time she stopped and said 'good morning!' Like she hadn't seen me 'till then! And then this other black-haired kid came down the stairs and stared at me for ten minutes! And don't get me started with that cave man living in your kitchen!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes and held up his hand with the ring, stopping Grimmjow's rant.

"That's my family retard. The redheadded one is Yuzu, she probably didn't see you at first because she can only see things like you _occasionally. _Karin is like me and can see you but probably was wondering why there was a great blue fanged lug hiding in her house. And the cave man is my dad." Ichigo sighed, "I really have no explanation for him." Just then Ichigo's watch beeped loudly and he glanced at it.

"Okay, c'mon, we have to leave." He said, pulling on a thin jacket.

"I'm not going anywhere." The teal haired arrancar snarled, cautiously removing himself from his hiding spot.

"Yes you are if you want to go to school tomorrow. Urahara made you a gigai and we're going to pick it up now so you can live like a normal person. He's also the one making arrangements for you to go to school."

"I don't want to live like a 'normal human'!" He roared, "I want to kill Aizen!" He clenched his fists and teeth, seething. Ichigo took a cautionary step back and held up the ring.

"Calm down, first, you have to get everyone to trust you before they'll let you evn walk around without that bracelet and this is the wrong way to go about it dipshit!" Grimmjow's gaze narrowed, but his fists and jaw relaxed.

"Fine." He snorted, "I'll go along with you for now." Ichigo opened the door and Grimmjow roughly pushed him out of the way, stepping into the morning breeze. The redhead shut the door behind himself, eyebrow twitching as he forced himself to let that last gesture slip.

The teal haired arrancar half-turned, a scowl plastered on his face.

"Where are we going?"

* * *

Ichigo opened the front door to Urahara Shoten, glancing around to make sure there weren't any other customers.

"Hey, it's me!" he called, "I have the espada with me!" Grimmjow opened his mouth to protest to the way he was addressed, but stopped when he saw a trap door open on the platform at the far end of the shop and a hatted head poke out.

"Ah! Kurosaki-san! I see you brought the captive!" He said, climbing out of the trap door and closing it.

"For the last time, I was not captured!" Grimmjow started towards him, but was stopped by a sharp shock up his arm.

"Urahara, he's cooperating, no need to make fun of him." Ichigo said, lowering his hand. Urahara snapped his fan open in front of his face.

"Yes, fine, fine. I have the Gigai prepared." he waved a hand to a door "Follow me." he chirped. He clacked over to it, Ichigo following, Grimmjow hanging back warily.

Urahara opened the door and revealed a large room with a table in the middle. Lying on the table was a figure that looked almost exactly like Grimmjow.

"Good job Urahara." Ichigo grunted, inspecting it.

"I know, isn't it? I was bored a couple of days ago when you called so I went right to work. Isn't it great?" Urahara waved the fan a bit, fanning his face in a self-praising manner. Grimmjow circled the table, poking and prodding at the gigai, inspecting every inch of it. The two other men watched until he suddenly stopped and glared at it.

"Is there a problem?" the blonde asked in an almost sing-song voice.

"My mask..." he grumbled.

"What?" Ichigo grunted impatiently. He didn't want to spend his whole day off with these two.

"My mask! Where is it?!" He said, pointing crudely at the bone jaw on his face.

"Well, I obviously couldn't add it on there silly!" he chortled, waving his fan. "The point is to make you visible to humans, but also to make you look human!" Grimmjow snorted defiantly and crossed his arms.

"Fine. How do I get it on?" Urahara giggled.

"I'll show you, but Kurosaki has to leave."

"Why?"

"Trust me." The blonde shooed Ichigo out into the shop. The redhead crossed his arms and waited. He heard several thumps, curses and insults from Grimmjow, but finally the door opened to reveal Grimmjow. He was wearing a tight black tanktop with a smokey grey hoodie and black, baggy pants and his hollow mask was gone. Instead on his face he wore one of the darkest glares Ichigo had ever received.

Urahara danced around him, tapping Grimmjow on the back lightly with his closed fan and stood beside Ichigo.

"C'mon now, don't scowl! How does it feel?" Urahara said, amusement in his voice. Grimmjow raised his good arm up and down and moved his legs around a bit.

"Okay, I guess. A little weird." Urahara clapped his hands.

"You'll get used to it. Now! I have some paper work to do for you mister!" With that the blonde skipped to the trap door, opening it, jumping down and closing it with a slam.

Ichigo shook his head, trying to rid himself of that disturbing display of wierdness, and looked back to see Grimmjow opening and closing his mouth.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Shut up." the teal haired arrancar retorted. "It feels weird without my mask. Y'know it's weird since Ulqui used to be able to take his off all the time and he never said a word about it." Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"Ulqui?" he scoffed. Ichigo expected to get yelled at, or at least even a glare, but instead Grimmjow's gaze fell to the ground and a faint smile crossed his lips.

"Yeah, Ulqui...he hated it when we called him that..." He shook his head. "Why am I even talking to you about them?!" He snarled, his scowl returning. He pushed Ichigo out of the way once again and stormed out of the shop, leaving Ichigo confused and dumbstruck. Then he looked over and stepped on the trap door so it would shut again and Urahara would stop giggling.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Finally something M-rated! REVEIWS PLEASE!


	8. Submission

Chapter 8: Submission

* * *

Grimmjow sat in the park on one of the swings, running his bare feet through the sand, his shoes abandoned a few feet away. He grimaced at the feeling of the sand filling the gaps between his toes. It was more course than the fine sand in Las Noches.

"Stupid shinigami…" he grumbled, flicking sand with his toes. It's not like he asked to be saved. That redheaded bastard did it of his own accord. He scratched his neck with his good arm, resisting the urge to take off his shirt. He wasn't used to wearing anything above the waist besides his jacket, much less something this tight. The teal haired espada scrubbed his face with his hands, annoyed at the fact that he couldn't feel the stimulation of his claws on his skin anymore, now that that damn pansy had made his gigai without them.

"I gotta get outta this slump." He muttered to himself.

"Jinta get down from there."

Grimmjow looked up. The voice had come from a girl with black hair in pigtails, standing by the jungle gym. He followed her worried gaze up to the top of the jungle gym where a red headed boy was standing precariously on a bar, one foot in the air.

"Oh-oh! I'm gonna fall Ururu!" The boy mocked.

"Stop it." She said. Grimmjow couldn't help but notice how huge her eyes were, naturally or out of worry he didn't know. The boy cackled.

The arrancar watched the two, confused by their childishness. He had only ever known one person who acted remotely like that and that was Wonderweiss.

"Stupid little bastard." He smirked, reminiscing. Trying to count how many places the blonde arrancar had fallen from was damn near impossible.

"Whoa!" Grimmjow snapped back into focus just in time to see the boy's foot slip and watch him come crashing to the ground. The sexta espada watched for a second before the boy staggered to his feet, rubbing his lower back and scowling. The girl remained silent but gave the boy a look that could be translated into something like 'I told you so.' He raised a hand and smacked her over the head.

"Shut up Ururu!"

She rubbed her head, but said nothing, big eyes trailing away from her friend's scowling face and over to the swings, where Grimmjow watched. He turned his gaze away, copying the boy's scowl.

Jinta started down the pathway, obviously pissed that he'd fallen. Ururu lingered for a moment before following him.

Grimmjow looked up at the sky. Those two would have to be awfully good friends to put up with such different personalities. He squinted as the sun came out from behind a cloud and shone in his eyes. He wasn't used to sun.

Pulling off his hoodie, he thought about his days of babysitting with the guys. Nnoitra was always the best with Wonderweiss, just because he liked him more. He grinned and tossed the article with his shoes. The blonde boy never really liked him because the sexta espada could never hold himself back from kicking Wonderweiss in the ass when he was being annoying. Ulquiorra just didn't do much with him, just sat in the corner and observed.

Suddenly, something dove into his back, sending him toppling off the swing, face-first in the sand. A strong arm grabbed his bad arm and twisted it behind his back, eliciting a cat-like yowl from the espada.

"Have you got him Chad?!" Grimmjow heard footsteps run up behind him and his attacker. Chad grunted.

"He's not fighting back."

"Get off me you big lug!" Grimmjow squirmed. He turned his head to the side to see a pale boy pointing a spirit arrow at his head.

"Don't move Espada." He spat. Grimmjow recalled hearing about a quincy who was working with Ichigo in the human world. Ishida Uryuu. He smirked.

"You're the quincy huh? And the big guy here must be Kurosaki's other friend, huh?" He managed out. The pain in his shoulder was intensifying by the second. Uryuu pressed the arrow to his cheek, drawing blood.

"Why the hell are you here? And in a gigai? What are you up to?" He spoke confidently.

"You really think that if I was up to something I would bother to come and sit in a park you ugly piece of shit?" Grimmjow snarled. Uryuu nodded at Chad who twisted his arm even farther, making the espada yelp.

"Stop it! I'm on your fucking side now you anorexic idiot!" The quincy's eyebrows twitched up in surprise but quickly returned to where they were before.

"He has a restriction bracelet on." Chad said.

"Call that idiot Kurosaki, he'll tell you! And let go of my fucking arm!"

Uryuu kicked sand in Grimmjow's face and the arrow disappeared. He reached into a pocket pulled out a cell phone. The cell beeped as the quincy punched in numbers and the sexta espada spat sand away from his face.

"Hey, Kurosaki. We've captured an Espada. He claims to be on our side." This time, Uryuu's eyebrows perked up and stayed there. "Really? Well…mhm…we're in the park. Come pick it up then." He hung up and glared down at Grimmjow condescendingly. Chad let him go and stood up, letting the espada sit up, re-adjusting his shoulder.

"Well aren't you pathetic now Espada?" Uryuu smirked, "No good here and no good there. Good luck surviving, with so many people after your neck."

Grimmjow got to his feet and grinned maliciously. This stupid boy was too high on his horse for his own good. He took a step towards him until their faces were an inch apart and the espada could see the quincy fight to keep his eyes from widening. He bared his teeth.

"Aren't you pathetic now _quincy_?" he hissed, "No good to your dad, no good to anyone else. Good luck surviving, you weak little twig." Uryuu staggered back and Grimmjow's grin spread. He knew he had struck a nerve.

"Let's get out of here Chad." He muttered. Chad eyed Grimmjow before turning away and starting back the way they came. Uryuu turned too and took a step forward before pausing. Grimmjow prepared himself in case the quincy decided to get violent. Instead he just lingered for a second before following Chad. Once he was sure they were out of sight, Grimmjow clutched his shoulder and hissed between his teeth.

"Damn it all!" He yelled.

"What'd I tell you about watching your mouth?! There are kids all over this area!" The teal haired espada turned to see Ichigo striding over to him. He expected the redhead to pull out his ring and zap him but instead he touched the hand Grimmjow was clutching to his shoulder.

"You have to be careful with that arm or it's just gonna stop working!" Ichigo said, scowling at him.

"It was fine until your idiot friend tackled me!" he looked down at the hand on his shoulder and Ichigo jerked it back, blushing. Grimmjow arched an eyebrow.

"What's your problem Kurosaki?" The redhead looked away.

"Nothing! C'mon, we have to get home, dinner's gonna be ready soon." Ichigo turned and walked out of the park, the teal haired espada watching after him.

"Hurry up!" Ichigo called. Grimmjow scowled.

"I'm coming!" He stooped and grabbed his hoodie and shoes before following the substitute shinigami out of the park and down the road.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Grimmjow started to feel the tension. He didn't know what it was from, and normally he liked it when people just shut up, but this time he didn't like the awkwardness that was building.

"So…what're we having?" The arrancar attempted to break the silence, shoving his hands in his pockets. Ichigo stood straighter at being addressed and answered almost automatically.

"Beef stew, I think." Grimmjow could see Ichigo's smirk spread across his face, "Not that you know what that is, considering all you probably ever eat is other hollows." Ichigo turned his head to see Grimmjow's reaction but his face remained blank.

"That's what you think, huh? Damn, you're an idiot." The redhead's smirk lost its edge, and the espada could see that he was irked. Grimmjow threw him a cocky sneer.

"In fact, we eat a lot of the same stuff you do, if not more. Halibel can cook just about anything from just about anywhere in the world." Ichigo dropped his smirk completely and fell in step beside him.

"Really? Like what?" Grimmjow was taken aback. The guy sounded genuinely interested.

"Well, Nnoitra's favourite is Romanian, and Szayel likes French." The sexta espada couldn't believe he was having an actual conversation about his life with the shinigami he'd sworn to kill. Ichigo looked surprised.

"Seriously? I figured you were all uncultured freaks."

"Well we're not." He retorted. On the other hand, it was nice to have somebody who was actually interested in what he had to say, besides Ulquiorra and Nnoitra.

They approached Ichigo's house and the redhead's face fell into a scowl again.

"Now, you're gonna watch your mouth in my house, got it? I don't want you to have any sort of influence on my sisters." Grimmjow sneered. It sounded like the shinigami was scolding him. Who did he think he was?

"Yeah well, you can go fuck yourself." He spat, then winced as a familiar shock shot up his arm.

"That's exactly what I mean! Now c'mon or I'm gonna get in trouble for being late!"

Great. What had he been thinking? Ichigo was, and always would be, a disagreeable bastard. Grimmjow glared at the restricting bracelet on his wrist, then at the back of the shinigami's head. He wondered what he hated more, the fact that he was now in a state of submission, or the fact that it was Ichigo who had him there.


	9. Skittles

Grimmjow stood at the bottom of the stairs, scowling impatiently.

"C'mon Kurosaki! We're gonna be late!" A red head of hair emerged from the bedroom followed by a shuffling of feet. Ichigo stood at the top of the stairs, bag slung lazily over his shoulder, yawning.

"Grimmjow, school doesn't start for forty-five minutes. Don't rush me." He peered down the stairs at the espada, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" The teal haired man growled. Ichigo shook his head. He and Grimmjow were wearing identical school uniforms, provided by Urahara. This was no problem; everyone at school wore the same uniform. The problem was the espada's uniform was unbuttoned, exposing his chest and the long scar left by Zangetsu.

"You can't leave the house like that."

"What's wrong with it?" He asked, extending his arm to look at the sleeve. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"In this world, you can't go outside with a bare chest! Button your shirt up!" Grimmjow scowled down at the open shirt, taking a corner and pulling it away from him studiously.

"Well how the hell do you close this damn thing?" The redhead stared at him for a few seconds before he realized what Grimmjow meant. Ichigo laughed, making his way down the stairs to stand in front of the espada.

"You've seriously never seen buttons before?" He took the two ends of Grimmjow's shirt in his hands and started doing them up, forcing himself to avert his eyes from the teal haired man's chest. The skin was lightly tanned and accented with the occasional scar, the ridges and planes of his muscles smooth and sculpted. The body of a fighter. Grimmjow's breath was ghosting along his temple, and flashes of flesh, sweat and rough lips passed through his mind. Ichigo stepped back, flushed.

"There! Figure it out yourself next time!" he said hastily, moving to retrieve his bag from the floor. Before he could, his arm was grabbed and the espada pulled him back in, burying his nose in the red hair. Ichigo flushed even deeper and squirmed out of Grimmjow's grip.

"What the hell?" Ichigo yelled, blushing even deeper. Grimmjow smirked, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

"Your hair smells like strawberries." Blue eyes flashed mischievously. "You smell like a fucking girl." Ichigo stood stunned, whether it was because of the statement or the gesture, he didn't know. He would have punched the arrancar across the face, who was now roaring with laughter, if Karin hadn't drifted into the hall.

"Hey, breakfast is ready." She said gesturing with her head toward the kitchen. Ichigo followed her and Grimmjow, inwardly chastising himself. He had to stop thinking about Grimmjow that way. He was a damn arrancar for god's sake! He had to get over this sexual frustration thing.

'_I'm not attracted to guys.'_ He told himself, pulling out a chair and sitting down. He glanced at Grimmjow out of the corner of his eye who was taking a generous pile of eggs. The redhead sighed and bit into a piece of toast.

'_I'm not.'_

_

* * *

_

Ichigo stared at Grimmjow intently, who was shifting from one foot to the next impatiently. They had managed to get to school with little incident, and the redhead was thankful for that. He just wasn't sure if Grimmjow – or the students for that matter – would survive the next six and a half hours of school.

"Goddammit Kurosaki, will you just open the door already?"

"I just want you to be clear that before we go in the classroom, there are some rules you gotta follow, got it?" Grimmjow rolled his eyes but Ichigo continued.

"Raise your hand and ask to even get up from your desk or the teacher could kill you. Under no circumstances can you punch, kick or maim anyone, and keep the swearing to a minimum. If anyone looks at you suspiciously, they could be some of my friends who can feel your spiritual pressure, so just ignore it, got it?"

"For fuck's sake, I got it!" Ichigo glowered at him. The espada sighed resignedly.

"Fine, I got it. Let's just go!"

The redhead reached over and grabbed the door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door to the classroom open. Grimmjow peered in from behind him.

The chatter previously emanating from the classroom hushed as everyone turned towards them. Ichigo felt a wave of panic. Had he forgotten something? Could they all tell just from looking at him that Grimmjow wasn't human? The redhead suddenly felt like he was standing there in full Shinigami uniform, brandishing his badge for everyone to see.

"!" Ichigo instinctively stuck up his foot, kicking the student barreling at him.

"Hi Kiego." He said, looking blankly down at the teary boy, holding his bleeding nose. He breathed an inward sigh of relief. If Kiego couldn't tell, then probably none of them could. So why were they staring?

"Ichigo!" Mizuro walked up, smiling. "Where've you been? Don't tell me, the hospital again?"

"No." Ichigo jerked a thumb in Grimmjow's direction. "I was picking this guy up from Spain. He's a…" Ichigo glanced back at the arrancar, not sure what to refer to him as. They weren't exactly friends.

"A new friend, Ichigo? You'd think you didn't want us anymore with all the new friends you've been making!" Kiego said, having risen from the floor. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. This is Grimmjow. He's gonna be going here for a while."

"Dude! Is that your real hair colour?" Someone yelled from across the room.

"And what's with that blue eye shadow?" Another yelled. The room started buzzing again, their attention remaining on Grimmjow. Ichigo could feel the arrancar behind him, growling lowly and Ichigo relaxed. Of course, they were only staring at Grimmjow's hair. It wasn't exactly average shade.

"Oh, leave him alone guys! Let's make him feel welcome!" The redhead looked to the back of the room where Orihime was sitting on her desk, smiling. Ichigo smiled back. Urahara must have explained what was going on to her and the others, from the way Chad was nodding. Uryuu had his gaze fixed out the window, scowling. Grimmjow smirked and Ichigo heard him mumble something along the lines of 'pansy'.

The class' attention slowly shifted back to their usual conversation, Mizuro and Kiego being pulled into a group of boys who seemed to be fixated on an arm wrestling tournament. The substitute shinigami took this opportunity to make his way to the back of the class with his friends.

"Hey guys. So you've all been brought up to speed, huh?" Chad nodded.

"How long is he staying?" Uryuu said, a slight edge to his voice. Ichigo shrugged.

"Dunno, I guess until they decide what he's good for." The redhead paused. Something felt off. He glanced behind him, then began looking around frantically.

"Where the hell is he?" The espada wasn't behind him anymore, and another wave of panic washed over him. That damn guy had escaped!

"Relax dipshit, I'm right here." Ichigo turned towards the voice, where Grimmjow was sitting on a desk, shoving a generous handful of skittles into his mouth. He stared incredulously at the blue haired man.

"Where the hell'd you get those?"

"Kid over there bet me a bag of this stuff that he could beat me at arm wrestling." He gestured to a table where there was a boy cradling an obviously broken arm, the rest of them staring at the arrancar slack-jawed. Ichigo grabbed Grimmjow by the collar.

"You idiot! You can't do that!" Cerulean eyes bore into brown. A deep blue, tinged with amusement and victory. The espada smirked again, swallowing the candy.

"You know you're kinda cute up close Kurosaki." Ichigo reeled back, glancing back at Orihime, flushed as Grimmjow roared with laughter once again. From the oblivious look on her face, Orihime hadn't heard him, which meant none of them had. Orihime had the best ears. The redhead glared murderously at Grimmjow who had his head slung back, pouring the remnants of the skittles into his mouth.

'_Damn that guy.'_

A strange whistling sound pierced the air and Ichigo winced painfully as a piece of chalk struck his head.

"EVERYBODY SIT!" The teacher hollered. Everyone but Grimmjow and the boy with the broken arm rushed to their seats. Ichigo grabbed the arrancar's sleeve and pulled him into the seat next to him, so he could keep and eye on him. The teacher raised an eyebrow.

"Taka, what the hell happened to you?" The boy glanced back at Grimmjow, who cracked his knuckles passively. The boy looked back at the teacher quickly.

"N-nothing big. C-can I go to the nurse?" He stuttered, gritting his teeth. The teacher pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote something down.

"Taka, absent for being a wimp." Grimmjow smirked, Ichigo rolled his eyes.

* * *

Ichigo sighed, sitting back in his chair and letting his pencil drop to his desk. He hated pop quizzes. He wasn't dumb, but what kind of freak enjoyed double math? He glanced over at Grimmjow who was just finishing the last question, smiling to himself like he'd just remembered something funny. Ichigo was surprised that the blue haired arrancar wasn't having more trouble. Did they have some sort of hollow school?

Ichigo chuckled and the espada shot him a glare.

"What?" he hissed. The redhead grinned, and shrugged.

"It's just kinda funny that you can solve algorithms, but you can't figure out buttons." He whispered mockingly. Grimmjow scowled but turned back to his sheet, finishing off the last question.

"I swear Kurosaki, if you didn't have that damn shock ring…" Ichigo's eyes widened slightly. He'd forgotten all about that thing. He looked down at his hand, studying it. It was gold, the jewel in the middle a gaudy red. An ugly thing at best, but what did he expect from the twelfth squad? They had their own sense of what looked good and what didn't, just going by the mask Mayuri wore.

The school bell rang out across the classroom, and everyone stood up for lunch.

"Ichigo." He turned to look at Chad who was standing at the door.

"Are you coming to the roof for lunch?" Ichigo nodded.

"You bet!" Chad's eyes flicked from Ichigo to Grimmjow and back, posing the question silently. Ichigo nodded again and turned to the arrancar.

"C'mon, we're going for lunch."

* * *

**This chapter was written for Yoshitaka! Please review!**


	10. Weakness

Chapter 10: Weakness

Grimmjow leaned against Ichigo's locker, arms crossed, trying to ignore the whispering students as they passed.

"Do you think he's gay?"

"He might be; they call that 'flaming gay blue'"

"He doesn't look Spanish."

"What kinda name is 'Grimmjow'?"

The arrancar ground his teeth and snarled at a group of boys who scampered away in fear. Ichigo had told him to stay there, while he went to go get some food from the cafeteria. The blue haired man had questioned why he couldn't come along and the redhead just mumbled something about it being a zoo. Like this whole place wasn't a zoo. This was a completely different universe to Grimmjow. Back in Hueco Mundo, the only thing that mattered was strength, and if you didn't have that, you had nothing. But here it was different. Here it was all looks.

Not that the espada didn't notice looks. It was quite the opposite. He remembered Ulquiorra giving him tips in fighting once, about how assessing your opponent's muscle composition could help you figure out their speed, strength, which side they favored, that sort of thing. Grimmjow scratched his cheek. It was actually amazing that he remembered that lecture, considering how adamantly he was protesting against needing any sort of tips in fighting at the time.

Of course, that wasn't the only way he noticed appearances. He was good looking and powerful. He had had more than his fair share of sex in the past, mostly with men. That was another odd thing about this world. A man having sex with a man was called 'gay' and apparently frowned upon. Grimmjow snorted. Back in Hueco Mundo, it didn't matter what you liked, as long as you got laid. End of story.

The espada shuffled his feet and furrowed his brows. Sex. He hadn't had any in a while and the animal in him was craving it. The grind of flesh on flesh. Heat. Lust.

"Hey! Space cadet!" Grimmjow turned his head toward the voice and caught a glimpse of Ichigo through the crush of students in the hallway.

"Meet us on the roof!" He called, pointing to a stairwell at the opposite end of the hall. The espada gave a short nod and the redhead turned and ascended the staircase. Grimmjow watched him go and couldn't help but notice the way his taught muscles flowed with his body, even beneath the clothes.

He banged his head lightly against the locker.

"Damn, I really am horny if I'm thinking about Kurosaki." Grimmjow mumbled to himself, smirking. He wasn't lying before. Ichigo really was cute up close. He wondered why he'd never noticed it before. If he did, he may have taken a whole different approach to their battles.

"Hey, you!" Grimmjow snapped out of his reverie as a boy with an ugly face twisted into a cocky expression stepped into his line of view.

"You're that new kid, aren't ya? Kurosaki's buddy?" The espada scowled deeply, vaguely aware of two other guys blocking escape from either side.

"What of it?" He spat, standing up straight and uncrossing his arms. The leader laughed, flipping his long dreadlocks over his shoulder.

"See, we've got a little bit of a debt to pay Kurosaki." The lackey on the right said. Grimmjow grinned. So they were looking for a fight. Well they'd get what they came for.

"Sorry about this." The leader said, matching his grin. The two lackeys dove in, each grabbing one of the espada's arm as the dreadlocked boy hurled a punch at his head. Grimmjow twisted his hips and kicked the boy in the chin, sending him hurling back.

"Hey! Stay still fucker!" The lackey on the left said, landing a hard punch to the ribs. Grimmjow coughed, stunned. That shouldn't have fazed him! He didn't want to admit it, but he was a lot weaker without his reiatsu. Almost as weak as a damn human! He jerked his left arm free and punched the lackey in the face, turning and lunging at the other, tackling him to the ground and beginning to punch him repeatedly.

"He's favoring his left arm!" He heard one of the boys say, and suddenly his right arm was grabbed and twisted behind his back. Grimmjow froze as pain shot through his body in waves. He had forgotten about his shoulder.

The espada yowled in pain and anger and swung blindly behind him as the leader landed a clean kick to his shoulder, sending him toppling to the ground. Grimmjow saw red. Those damn Shinigami, taking away his reiatsu. He was an espada! Here he was getting beaten by humans in mere seconds!

The leader stood over him laughing triumphantly, stepping on the arrancar's shoulder and pressing down. Grimmjow hissed. Damn that Ichigo for making him submit. Damn Aizen for taking away his sword. His home. His family. His everything. He was at his lowest point. A crowd had gathered, watching silently as he was defeated. Literally stepped on. The dreadlocked boy ground his foot.

"Any last words before we send you to the hospital?" Grimmjow snapped. What the hell was he doing, letting a kid walk all over him? He was Grimmjow Jeagerjaques! He was going to defeat Aizen! This human was nothing!

He swung his arm out, grabbing the boy's leg and curling up.

"GRIMMJOW!" Someone called from the crowd as the espada clamped his teeth down on the leg, forcing all his strength, all his anger and determination, into his jaw. The boy screamed and Grimmjow heard the satisfying crunch of bone, tasting the blood begin to ebb.

Ichigo dashed from the crowd and grabbed the leader, throwing him into the lockers, away from Grimmjow, releasing him from the arrancar's jaws. The boy continued to scream and teachers came running. The blanket of panic fell as people were screaming for someone to call 911, throngs of students being jostled out of the halls, Ichigo kicking Grimmjow repeatedly in the chest.

"What the hell were you thinking?" The redhead screamed over the pandemonium. The arrancar was the only one in a clear headspace, breathing heavily, eyes closed. Blood dripped from his lips. The satisfying taste of it. The continuous stabbing pain of his shoulder dazed him. He was so weak. He hated this weakness. It was all too familiar to him, from his days as a meager hollow.

Ichigo was kneeling beside him now.

"Dammit Grimmjow, can you hear me?" The redhead's voice was tinged with worry. He opened his eyes slowly. Worry? Why the hell would that damn shinigami be worried about him?

"Fuck!" The blue haired man growled, reaching across and clasping his shoulder. The situation he was in made him furious. If Ulquiorra was here, if he saw him now…

"Grimmjow?"

"GOD DAMMIT!" The espada screamed.

* * *

Ichigo watched from the floor as the espada shifted on his bed, a small groan escaping his lips.

"I can't believe you got expelled on the first day of school." The redhead chided.

"Shut up." Came the half-hearted reply. Ichigo sighed and rested his chin in his hand.

"Look, you were handicapped in more ways than one! It doesn't mean you're weak! It just means you don't have all your strength right now!"

Silence.

Grimmjow's gigai was stashed in the closet, Grimmjow having pulled himself out of it the second they got in the door. It was a good thing his family was gone for the night, or they may have questioned why his new friend was in such a state.

The redhead sighed again and got up, sitting on the bed next to Grimmjow, observing him. The espada's eyes were open and staring out the window, the full moon reflecting in the sadness of the deep blue pools.

'_Damn, how can one guy be so sad?' _Ichigo thought, rubbing his hands together slowly, awkwardly. He hated this silence.

"Look, I'm going downstairs. I can grab something for you if you want." The younger man watched the other's face, trying to decipher a response. Grimmjow was quiet for a few seconds and Ichigo rose to leave.

"You got any booze?"

Ichigo froze. He didn't know if that was a good idea. He didn't know what kind of drunk Grimmjow was, and he was already pissed off as hell. The redhead began to respond, opening his mouth to say no, when the arrancar shifted with another small whine. Ichigo blushed and rushed down the stairs. He made it into the kitchen before leaning over the counter and bracing himself with his arms.

'_What the hell is wrong with me? He's a monster! A heartless monster! He tried to kill me!'_ Ichigo pushed away from the counter and looked up at the cupboard. The booze cupboard. He opened it up and grabbed a bottle, realizing he needed it as much a Grimmjow did. Anything to stop the butterflies in his chest.

How could Grimmjow make him feel like this? A few days ago all he felt was hatred for the espada. The sole drive to defeat him. He had never felt this…attracted to him before. Or had he? The redhead flushed deeper, his eyes widening slightly at the realization. Had he been attracted to Grimmjow all along? Is that why he thought about him constantly?

The redhead quietly grabbed two glasses and made his way back upstairs with the bottle. When he got back to the bedroom, Grimmjow was already sitting up, back pressed against the far wall. The espada's face brightened as Ichigo held up the bottle, shutting the door.

"My dad's." He offered by way of explanation, but Grimmjow didn't care. Ichigo had barely sat down before the blue haired man had grabbed the bottle, opened it, and chugged a good three fingers. Ichigo snatched the bottle back.

"Slow down!" Grimmjow glared and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The redhead waited for the retort. A 'fuck you' or 'shut up', but nothing came.

'_I wonder what he's thinking?' _ Ichigo shook his head and took a long swig from the bottle. It burned as it slid down his throat and he coughed, pulling the bottle away. Grimmjow reached for it and Ichigo jumped lightly as their fingers brushed, sending a little spilling into his lap.

"Whoa, easy there." Grimmjow said, mouth close to his ear. Ichigo jerked away and flushed and Grimmjow took another long swallow.

"D-don't get that close asshole!"

Grimmjow lowered the bottle from his lips, observing the redhead. He didn't know whether it was the alcohol or the lust, but the espada couldn't help but notice how sexy Ichigo was. He was the perfect mix of shyness and strength, long legs and taught muscles.

The arrancar smirked, licking his lips. Maybe there was more than one way to dominate Ichigo.

"Why're you blushing?" he said, leaning closer to the redhead, resting the bottle on the floor. The teen grabbed Grimmjow's shoulders, pushing him away.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"C'mon Ichigo, I've seen the way you look at me."

"You're drunk." The teenager muttered defiantly, releasing the arrancar and turning away. The espada could see Ichigo fuming with embarrassment. Grimmjow's smirk widened. This was going to be fun. He slid over to Ichigo, slipping his legs so they settled on either side of the boy, slightly bent. The blue haired man pressed his chest against his strong back and purred, running one hand up Ichigo's thigh.

The redhead gasped, jerking away from the touch.

"C-Cut it out!" Grimmjow grinned, sliding back. The redhead turned his head to watch the arrancar retreat, his face flushed, eyes glaring. The espada bared his teeth. Man was this boy a piece of ass! He grabbed Ichigo's shirt and pulled him over, forcing him onto his back on the bed. He crushed their lips together, muffling the teen's protests and pinning his wrists above his head. Grimmjow pried the boy's lips open, letting his tongue explore and relishing the sweet taste of his mouth before Ichigo bit down, causing Grimmjow to jerk back.

"You fucker, that hurt!"

"Get off me you rapist!" Ichigo was glaring daggers at him, squirming against his grip. Grimmjow stared at him for a few moments before smirking broadly.

"You're a virgin, aren't you?" Brown eyes widened before returning to a glare.

"Yeah, so?" Ichigo squirmed against his grip, and Grimmjow noticed the redhead wasn't wearing the ring. Had he gotten rid of it?

"Where's that ring?"

"What?" Ichigo looked up at his hand and frowned

"I left it in my bag." The redhead scoffed, "I was starting to think I could trust you. But I guess I was wrong!" With that Ichigo jerked his hands free, the espada dodging Ichigo's punch and grabbing his wrist. Grimmjow pulled Ichigo roughly into a sitting position, their faces close. There was only one way he was going to get the sex he desperately needed right now.

"Ichigo," Grimmjow breathed, shifting himself so Ichigo was pressed against him. Ichigo's eyes widened as the espada's hips pressed against his own, Grimmjow's growing arousal evident beneath his pants.

"I need you."

Ichigo's breath hitched as Grimmjow laid him back down on the bed, releasing his wrist.

"Please…" He whispered, laying gentle kisses on Ichigo's neck. The redhead gripped Grimmjow's shoulders, breathing heavily.

"Stop…" Came the half-hearted reply. Grimmjow choked back a smirk.

"I know you want me too." The espada slid his hand down Ichigo's thigh, stopping to brush Ichigo's erection, pressing against the cloth. Grimmjow moved until he was straddling Ichigo's thighs, kissing, licking, sucking at his neck, hands sliding to the buttons on Ichigo's shirt.

"Please stop Grimmjow, please." The teen begged, breathing heavily.

"It'll feel really good, I promise." Grimmjow muttered into his ear. The espada couldn't help but feel disgusted with himself, acting this way. He should just take what he wanted, but right now, this kid was stronger than him.

Grimmjow tore the shirt open, not bothering to figure out the buttons, and grinned down at the boy.

Ichigo was flushed, panting, eyes drooping. The slacks framed what Grimmjow could see to be an impressive manhood, straining against the cloth. Grimmjow wanted to ravage this boy, virgin or no.

He descended on a nipple, sliding his tongue over the bud, nipping lightly and Ichigo moaned. The redhead ran his fingers through the blue locks, gripping them hard and pulling Grimmjow away.

They locked eyes and the espada could see the younger man struggling to maintain the gaze.

"W-why?" Ichigo stuttered.

Grimmjow froze. There was no good answer he could give the boy. He couldn't say it was lust, it would just make him struggle more. Instead he closed the distance, kissing Ichigo once more. The kiss was soft, gentler and the espada felt the boy relax.

Grimmjow's hands traveled down Ichigo's body, running across his chest, fingers brushing the nipples lightly. The redhead moaned and the arrancar pulled away to nip his jaw, his neck, working his way up to nibble Ichigo's ear.

"You like that, Berry?" Grimmjow muttered, tweaking the dusty bud and earning another moan from the boy. The espada grinned, the erotic sound going right to his cock. He brought his knee up and rubbed it against Ichigo's full need, making the boy squirm.

"Grimmjow!" The boy breathed, tugging on blue locks. Grimmjow growled lightly, loving the feel of Ichigo's hands in his hair, and drew back slightly to rip his shirt off, tossing it to the floor. The redhead's breath hitched and the espada sneered.

"What? You like this?" he said, taking Ichigo's hand and running it across his chest. The boy hesitated, eyes drifting across the arrancar's body before clutching his shoulders, bringing Grimmjow in for another kiss. The teal haired man's eyes widened at the innocent passion in it, real affection evident in the way the teen pressed against him, opening his mouth welcomingly.

Grimmjow was stunned for a moment. The stupid shinigami had feelings for him? Ichigo's tongue slipped into his mouth and teased his own, a shudder running down his spine as Ichigo's fingers trailed down his back, massaging the sensitive skin in his hollow hole. The espada was suddenly very aware of his full need, trapped beneath cloth. He reached down and undid his pants, pulling them down along with his underwear, sighing as his member was released.

Ichigo squirmed, turning his head away from the kiss.

"Grimmjow, I dunno." The teen said breathlessly, trying to bring a knee up between them. The espada smirked, taking Ichigo's hand again and trailing it down his stomach, grazing his hollow hole, until it hovered just above his aching member. He needed to be touched, needed release. He guided the redhead's hand to touch the base, letting his fingers slide up the shaft. Grimmjow moaned.

"Fuck Ichigo! Can't you see how much I need you?" He growled. Ichigo bit back a moan, curving his back as Grimmjow ground his hips against his own.

"Oh god, Grimmjow!" Taking that as confirmation, the espada reached down and undid Ichigo's pants, undressing the boy quickly. He smirked.

"Damn, Ichigo!" The arrancar panted, eyes glazing with lust. Grimmjow admired the strong curves of Ichigo's muscles, glistening with sweat, chest heaving as his panted. He lowered his head, letting his breath ghost across the redhead's impressive member, feeling himself go slightly dizzy at the moans that solicited. He took the head in his mouth, holding Ichigo's hips down as he started to buck. In one motion the espada took him all in, growling around it as Ichigo squirmed, letting his thighs jerk open. Grimmjow pulled away.

Their eyes met and the espada put three fingers in his mouth. Brown eyes widened as Grimmjow sucked, coating his fingers with saliva. He pulled the dripping digits from his mouth, nestling himself between the parted thighs.

"What are you doing?" Grimmjow smirked.

"What, you don't know how two men have sex?" The redhead gasped as Grimmjow prodded his entrance.

"Y-you're gonna put _that_ in…" The espada cut the boy off by pushing a finger inside him, chuckling lightly as the boy fell back onto the bed, gasping.

"How's that feel?" The espada sneered, pushing a second digit in.

"Aah! It fucking hurts!" Ichigo growled, his knees folding up. The teen clenched his teeth as Grimmjow scissored his fingers and slid in the last digit. He whined, toes curling in pain as the arrancar pulled his fingers out and positioned himself.

"Wait!" Grimmjow paused, doing his best not to glare up at the redhead. He didn't know how much longer he could wait. His cock was already pounding painfully and he was so close…

"Please Grimm, just give me a minute." Ichigo's voice quivered and Grimmjow froze.

'Grimm'? That's what Nnoitra used to call him. He looked up at the boy, who was close to tears and cursed himself. He couldn't let himself go soft for this boy.

"You alright?" He said, despite himself.

"J-Just a little overwhelmed..." The redhead breathed.

Grimmjow considered stopping, but immediately shook his head and scowled. He wouldn't let himself be weak, especially not now, when he was finally going to dominate the Kurosaki brat.

He waited a few more seconds before grasping Ichigo's hips and pushing in slowly, baring his teeth in a wide grin as his member was enveloped in the tight heat. The redhead let out a long moan of pain as Grimmjow pushed in to the hilt.

"Fuck Ichigo, you're so tight!" He hissed and Ichigo whimpered.

The redhead's fingers were laced in the sheets, teeth gripped tight as he cursed. Grimmjow lifted one of Ichigo's legs to wrap around his waist and started to move, slowly thrusting, panting. He angled himself, divided between Ichigo's pleasure and his own. Finally, he hit it. The small bundle of nerves that made Ichigo's hips jerk up, spine curve, made the shinigami moan his name.

"Oh, Grimmjow!" Ichigo groaned, crying out as the espada pulled out to the tip, thrusting back into his cavern, hitting his spot again. Grimmjow increased his speed as each dive in, each gratifying moan sent a wave of pleasure coursing through him.

Sweat slid from the back of his neck, down his spine as he fucked Ichigo, nails digging into the soft skin of his hips. Ichigo's breath became increasingly more laboured as Grimmjow hit his prostate again and again, the redhead wrapping his other leg around the espada's strong waist, pulling him in deeper with every thrust.

"Fuck!" The teen cried as he spilled his seed over his stomach. Grimmjow continued thrusting for a few more seconds before letting out a growl as he came inside Ichigo, nails making cuts in the boy's hips as he rode out his orgasm.

The two remained motionless, except the heaving of their chests, Ichigo trying to blink the stars from his vision. Grimmjow sighed happily as he relaxed into the bed beside Ichigo.

"That was great." He said, starting to regain his breath. The redhead snapped out of his daze and turned his head to look at the blue haired espada. Grimmjow could feel brown eyes studying him, sensed Ichigo assessing his next move. The boy rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around Grimmjow's waist, snuggling into him and resting his head on his chest.

No words were exchanged as Ichigo drifted off to sleep and blue eyes widened in disbelief. He wasn't used to the redhead being such a…kitten. Grimmjow scowled. Did the boy think that was about affection? Ichigo was just a piece of ass! He had no feelings for the boy!

Grimmjow reached down and pulled the blanket over Ichigo, making sure he didn't cover the boy's head as he pulled it over himself. There was no way he'd ever let this boy be his weakness.

* * *

AN: Extra long, special chapter for my amazing readers. Please review!


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